


Careful, shortcake.

by sammys_lover



Series: October writing challenge '19 [5]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: ??? - Freeform, A little, Adult Content, Adult Themes, DARE I SAY-, Domestic, F/M, Feeling your feelings, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, If You Squint - Freeform, Kissing, LATER, Snatcher loves his human gf but he can't say it, in another fic, nothing happens but, october writing challenge, probably, soft, something will, we allude to ADULT THEMES IN HERE, would you smooch a ghost???, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 09:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20905625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sammys_lover/pseuds/sammys_lover
Summary: You're Hattie and Bow's older sister, and you look out for the raggamuffins the best you can.Does the Snatcher kill everyone in death wish a lot? Yeah.Does he always bring them back? Also yeah.This ghost can't possibly be all bad.After all, your lovely ghost...boyfriend? Is helping you make Halloween costumes! There's nothing nicer than that!(Or is there?)





	Careful, shortcake.

The chill of the Snatcher’s woods seeps through my sweater as I approach The Snatcher’s home. He may be a jerk to a lot of people, but it didn’t mean he was totally evil. At least, I think so. 

For example, he’s kind to Hattie, bow and I. (most of the time, anyway. He still cackles when we die in death wish. I don’t think he can help himself. But he always brings us back, so that’s a plus.) So he isn’t evil by any extent. Just a little sick. 

I carefully balance myself as I walk across the roots that lead to his home, knocking on the wood before waiting to take a step into the cozy room he resides in. 

Today Hattie had arranged for The Snatcher to help me make Halloween costumes. It’s a favorite tradition of ours, and while dead bird studios had offered some of their finest costumes, Bow insisted they were homemade. And I mean, come on. Who could say no to her cute little face? 

Anyway, he’s in his chair, reading a book I'd gifted him – a collection of mysteries. It warms my heart to see him reading it. Better that rather than the book about killing kids he never seems to put down. 

I open my mouth to greet him when my foot slips, throwing me to the side. 

I barely have time to blink, the bundles of fabric I’m carrying nearly flying away as I shout, bracing myself for the freezing water. 

Out of his chair in a flash, The Snatcher’s large, looming form is in the doorway before I can blink. 

“Woah there!” 

Snatcher chuckles, grabbing me by the waist before I can blink, quickly pulling me back up and into his humble home. 

“Careful, shortcake! Wouldn’t want you to fall in, hit your head and die!” 

His cheery demeanor is accompanied by morbid words, as per usual. But there’s a twinge of sincerity, accompanied by an odd look in his eye. 

He straightens me, brushing off my shoulder and brushing a few frazzled locks of hair back into place. 

He even goes as far as almost caressing my face, but stops himself after a minute, looking almost pained for a moment. 

It’s hard for him some days. And I understand that. To feel things like this is hard, I mean. He was murdered, for god’s sake. By someone who was supposed to love him. 

But he’s not big on talking about it. And I'm not about to push.

I... really do care about him. I know that he knows about it, my devotion is obvious, but I wouldn’t dare push him. Would I like to be with him, in every sense of the word? Yes, as silly as it sounds. I mean, he’s a uh, a ghost. 

But I care too much about him to even try to create a relationship. L-like that, anyway. We may already have one, but if we do, it’s... 

It's complicated. Some days he’s affectionate, other days distant. Lately, he’s been more and more affectionate, which I've really enjoyed. It’s just...I don’t want to push him too far. I don’t want to hurt him like he’d been hurt in the past. 

I awkwardly thank him, moving to set the fabric down by the entrance. 

“A-anyway,” I begin, face hot, moving to remove my pack and pulling a notebook out of it, flipping to my design page. 

“Uh, Hattie and Bow want to be wolves, and they want me to be little red riding hood.” I laugh, recalling their wide, excited eyes. 

“Thank you for helping me, by the way. It’s very kind.” 

He laughs once, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh-ho, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for that kiddo and her little contract.” He takes the notebook from my hands, looking it over. 

I swear I hear him mutter “Remind me to thank her.” 

He sounds...sincere. 

“What?” 

“Oh, nothing!” He says cheerily, looking up from the notebook, giving me his signature smile. 

I give him a smile in return, moving to pick up some of the red fabric. 

The next 10 minutes of my and his work take place in comfortable chatter between the both of us, and when we’re done, we have a cape! It even has little flower embroidery along the hem. 

I try it on, beaming as I look up at him. 

“Do you wanna dress up with us?” 

He laughs a little, shaking his head. 

“Me? No, I’m scary enough already,” The world begins to tint purple around us as his bright glowing eyes flick to mine. “Don’t you agree?” 

I can’t help but snicker as I nod, taking off my cape and showing it in my pack. Show off.

“You could scare a gaggle of adults to death in a single minute.” I agree, offering an encouraging smile as he did his best to keep an intimidating look in his eye. 

The world fades back from purple as the easy atmosphere returns, and I turn my back to him as I remove my sweater, revealing my dark-purple skin-tight tank top underneath, grabbing a measuring tape, and measuring my waistline. 

I pretend to not notice his eyes flicking up and down my frame as I turn to face him. 

“Alright. As for the actual dress, I was thi...nking....”I pause as I look at him. He looks conflicted, lost in thought, still staring at me. 

“Snatcher?’ 

I take a step towards him, shoving the measuring tape in my pocket before a single hand moves to gently land on his arm. He looks almost...hollow. Mournful, in a way. Still conflicted. 

“Are you alright?” 

He gives a bitter chuckle, looking me over again. 

“You...” His eyes meet mine, a light yellow tint spreading over his face. A light huff leaves his mouth before he continues, ignoring my question. “...you really are beautiful, aren’t you?” 

I feel my cheeks practically light on fire at his words, which catch me off guard in a whole other way. 

Where was this coming from all a sudden? 

“U-uh...” I can’t help my awkward stutter, wanting so desperately to look anywhere but his face. He looked like he was in some form of pain – emotional, obviously. I don’t know if he can even feel pain physically anymore. 

“Look, don’t get excited. I'm not about to throw myself to the wolves here by becoming a fool in love...again.” He fiddles with a lock of my hair as he talks, focusing on that as he continued. “But,” He cringes at himself, his golden eyes meeting mine once again. 

“You may be...” He shakes his head. “No, you are different. You’re not...her.” He practically spits the last word as he becomes smaller, closer to my size instead of continuing to tower over me. 

He stopped shrinking when he was about two feet taller than me, a sigh leaving him. There’s a moment of silence as he comes to a final resolution. “And you have been...so patient with me.” 

It’s almost as if he’s talking to himself at this point, his eyes looking right through me. 

I shake my head, trying my best to calm my furious blush. 

“You don’t owe me anything. I-it doesn’t matter how nice or patient I am with you. If you’re not ready for anything – e-even if you’re never ready, I'm just happy to be your pal.” 

He stares. 

“Y-y’know?” 

Blink. 

I groan, covering my face with my hands for a moment in mortification. 

“I-ugh, I mean you won’t ever owe me anything, and uh- It’s not your- I'm not gonna make you sign a contr-” 

He places a hand over my mouth in the middle of my half-baked joke. Thank god. 

“Y/n,” he begins, removing his hand from my mouth, moving to cup my cheek. “While I would love to watch you squirm, what are you going to do, huh? Kill me again?” He chuckles, though it really wasn’t funny. 

I cover his hand with mine, stroking with my thumb, prompting him to continue. He doesn’t. He simply gazes, mulling something over. 

“I...” I’m trying to speak as softly as I can, wanting to just...ease his pain. But I'm at a loss for words. “I wouldn’t dream of it. There’s a lot of good in you, and you deserve so much better... b-better than...me...?” 

Before I can continue, he nervously lowers himself, his soft sigh filling the space between us before he takes a deep breath – despite not needing air – and presses his mouth to mine softly. 

My eyes are wide as he and I move together, the tender moment ending as soon as it began. I watch his face in awe as his eyes slowly open again, gauging my reaction. 

“You okay?” I whisper, trying not to shatter the fragile atmosphere surrounding us. 

He nods, his hand falling from my cheek as he becomes larger once again, clearing his throat before looking around, the yellow-tinted blush now very prominent. 

“Yes, yes, never better. Now!” He claps his hands together, smiling at me once again. The air is lively and light as he regains his usual energy. “Let’s never speak of this again!” 

I laugh a little as his minions run into the stump-home, handing me a dress, and then running off, snickering. 

It’s my...costume? When did they finish this? 

I hold it out in front of myself for a moment to check it out, quickly stowing it away in my bag as I call out a “Thank you!” to the minions that were disappearing into the thick of the woods. 

“Wait-” whatever I'm about to say is cut short when he lifts me up, turning me around and scooting me towards the exit, dropping the fabric in my arms. 

“Thank you, you’ve got what you wanted, I got what I wanted, we can all go home and just forget this ever happened! Now get lost before I do something I’ll regret.” 

I turn to look at him.  
Blushing like a madman.

Oh my god, what a tsundere. 

“Snatcher.” He gives me his attention immediately. “Can you come uh, come down here for a second?” 

He does, eyeing me. Whether playfully or suspiciously, I don’t know. 

I move cautiously forward, kissing his cheek softly before moving to step onto the roots leading away from his home. 

“I’ll see you later, okay?” 

He suddenly appears in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. 

“Hold on a second there-” He places me back into the entranceway, narrowing his eyes. “You’re-” He stops, laughing for a minute. “What was that?” 

“I’m sorry!” I immediately blush, screwing my eyes shut. Ugh, it was too much! “I just- I thought it would be okay to-” 

“No, no.” He cuts me off, and I take a step backwards to avoid falling in the water. “You missed.” 

What? 

“What?” I squeak, watching wide-eyed as he floats towards me again, a little more bold than he was before. 

“I said,” He’s back at my level, the air electric around us as he grabs my chin, tilting my head upward. “You missed.” 

He has a somewhat playful aura around him, like he was hunting me down without ill intent. He’s certainly more comfortable, that’s for sure. Where the hell was all this coming from? 

The fabric is soon set aside, and before I know it, he’s leaning in to kiss me again. 

Contact is made, and the two of us move to his chair, allowing me to take a seat. 

He decides to make a bold move, pushing me further back into the chair as his cold hands move to ghost (literally) over my waist, his mouth moving from mine to kiss and nip at my neck. 

My hands tangle softly in the fluff around his neck, a small whimper leaving me as I tilt my head, allowing him access. 

“What are you doing?” 

Before the new, tiny voice could even finish speaking, The Snatcher has he and I in his chair, with me sitting where his lap would be, holding a large book in front of us. He tries to look casual, as if what we were doing was completely innocent. 

It’s Bow who spoke, followed by a silent Hattie, who has a smug look on her face. 

Snatcher lowers the book, looking to the girls, who had barged in. 

“What’s it to you, short stack?” 

He narrows his eyes as the girls approach, Bow’s innocent confusion written all over her face. Hattie, however, knew exactly what was going on. 

I wouldn’t be shocked if she set this up on purpose. 

Her wink and giggle confirm my suspicions, and Snatcher must come to the same conclusion. We've been set up by a little girl.

“We’re here for uh, death wish stuff.” Hattie looks to the both of us, knowing that with death wish comes The Snatcher, who would stay in the room the three of us share. 

My cheeks burn as I do my best to look casual, Snatcher’s arm behind me along my lower back, his hand coming to rest on my thigh, holding me close as I squirmed slightly. His smile becomes more and more strained by the moment. 

“Okay!” He begins, just a little too loud, snapping his fingers, two contracts floating before the girls. “Well, let’s just- aheh, move along and sign these-” The contacts float closer. Someone’s in a rush. “And move this along, shall we? Go ahead – get it out of the way.” 

Hattie looks hers over, signing it without a problem. Bow, however, squints at the paper. 

“...We didn’t even get to pick any-” 

“Come on, kid! I’ve got things other things,” he settles in the chair, his voice dangerous. “to do.” 

Hattie nudges her before whispering something in her ear, and bow seems to have a realization of her own before quickly signing it, the both of them barely containing their giggles, much to Snatcher’s distaste. 

“Wonderful! Now get lost.” 

And before I knew it, the girls were whisked away, off to complete whatever nearly-impossible job he’d tasked them with. 

His face lights up yellow with what I now recognized as a blush as he turns his head to look at me. 

“I have a reputation, you know.” He sets his book to the side. “I can’t be turning soft, now.” 

He says this, but the distracted look on his face as he traces nonsense patterns on my leg says otherwise. 

“The day I soften you up is the day I grow wings and fly away.” I laugh, relaxing a little now that the girls aren’t watching. 

We both sigh and take a moment of quiet as we let everything sink in. 

“You know they know, right?” 

“Oh, yes.” He laughs a little as he leans back into the chair, closing his eyes. I settle alongside him, leaning my head to rest in the fluff around his neck. 

He’s still tracing nonsense patterns on my leg, seemingly absentmindedly moving higher and higher up my leg as he continues. 

I’m painfully aware of it, and I think he knows it. 

“As much as I'd love to torment your fragile little mortal body in the most delicious of ways,” He begins, opening an eye to watch as I shiver. “I’m afraid I must go watch the hat-brats die.” 

I give him a disapproving look, raising an eyebrow. 

“You love them and you know it.” 

“I do not.” 

There is, however, no fire behind his words. He scoops me up, placing me on my feet as he prepared to snap us over to wherever the girls were. 

“But I will cut you a deal. No contracts required and no strings attached.” 

“Oh?” I playfully inquire, smirking up at him as we were both transported to mafia town, where the girls were quickly overheating as they attempted to extinguish the lava surrounding the island. He settles, relaxing in a bucket of cool, refreshing water, with me in his lap once again, soaking my clothes. 

“Yup! All for you!” He leans casually, his goofy smile plastered on his face. “I will eventually torment you in all the right ways. If:” 

“If?” 

“If you are loyal to me. And only to me. I am the only one who gets to make you...” He mulls it over, looking for the right, least lewd way of putting this. “Reach your intended goal.” 

And before I have a chance to even let it sink in, he leans forward, speaking lowly in my ear. 

“Do we have a deal?” 

His low, smooth voice alone is enough to give me chills. He definitely notices when he looks at my chest. 

I nod, meeting his eye. 

“I need a verbal answer, if you please.” 

“Y-yes. We have a deal.” 

“Hah!” He beams, turning his attention over to the girls, who were quickly dying of heatstroke. “Wonderful! You won’t regret this, shortcake!” 

Hattie dies, and The Snatcher zaps her back to life, heckling her with “git gud, kid!” 

I sigh, easing into the water, comfily sitting with him. I shout encouraging things to the girls to combat his berating. 

He watches with amusement when Hattie dives into our water bucket, splashing me in the face. She then splashes Snatcher, and he returns it.

Snatcher scoops her up and sets her on her way, laughing as he does.

I smile.

What a ham.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I know the eldest sibling shouldn't watch their younger siblings die and be revived by their supernatural S/O over and over, but having brothers or sisters is like that sometimes. You love them to death! 
> 
> (Literally.)
> 
> Oh yeah, AND:
> 
> There will be a connecting fic later this month.


End file.
